Faggots and Punks

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"FAGGOT MOTHERFUCKER"
said a Black man on the corner of 129th and Fifth Avenue in Harlem to an
effeminate gay Black man walking by. Most Black and Latino heterosexual men
say they have called a homosexual "faggot" or "punk" at
one time or another in their life, a new poll shows.

But the Black and Latino AIDS Coalition (BLAC) survey of 500 respondents
said people of color are split over the legalization of same-sex marriages.
Asked should same-sex marriages be legal, 37 percent of those polled said
yes and 36 percent said no, while 18 percent aren't sure. Another 9 percent
said they don't care.

A whopping 58 percent said God would not approve of the gay lifestyle. And
53 percent said they would not have a homosexual friend. Clearly,
homophobia is alive and kickin' in the Black and Latino community.
Rappers such as Ice Cube tell us in their records, "Real niggas ain't
faggots." Many Black and Latino ministers with bible raised high,
proclaim homosexuality "a sin before God." And in a TV interview
with Evans and Novaks in March 1997, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan
made it clear he regarded homosexuality an "unnatural act," and
would discourage the practice whenever and wherever he could.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Ph.D., said "[T]his will only change when more
Black leaders understand that when you scratch a homophobe underneath,
you'll invariably find a racist."Unless we address the issue of
homophobia in minority communities, we can't begin to stop the rise of
AIDS. We must teach people of color that HIV affects and infects people
regardless of their sexual orientation, race, or beliefs."

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What does the
poll finding mean to Black and Latino heterosexuals struggling to end the
AIDS epidemic in minority communities? First, the rise of AIDS among Black and Latino heterosexuals is indirectly
a result of homophobia in minority communities where AIDS is still seen as
a gay disease.

Indeed, AIDS and the homosexual lifestyle is one and the same thing in the
minds of many straight people of color. Consequently, many heterosexual
people of color hide a positive AIDS test and many refuse to test out of
fear of being found positive and subsequently suspected of being gay. This
misleading association of AIDS with the gay lifestyle discourages
heterosexual people of color with HIV/AIDS from accessing services too.

For example, many straight women will not go to Gay Men's Health Crisis
(GMHC) because they fear being identified as lesbians or approached by
them. Many heterosexual men feel the same way about GMHC regarding gay men.

BLAC is engaged in discussions with representatives of GMHC to find ways to
address the homophobic fears of straight people of color. One of the
reasons BLAC and GMHC are working together is to serve as a model for other
communities that may be experiencing similar problems that inhibit access
to services. The survey also found that six out of ten heterosexual people
of color said that straight Black and Latino men must stop gay bashing. No
question about it. As a matter of fact, we must build on that sentiment by
finding more common ground between the gay and lesbian community and
straight people of color. Politics is a good starting point. A case in
point is the riff caused when Ruth Messinger endorsed Virginia Fields (a
straight Black woman) for Manhattan Borough President over Deborah Glick,
an openly lesbian candidate. Back in June 1997, several members of the gay
and lesbian community huddled with Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel to
create an open line of discussion. Apparently, the gay and lesbian
community remembered that straight people of color are grossly
underrepresented at all levels of New York City government too.

Whatever the case, Black and Latino elected officials have been at the
forefront of championing gay and lesbain rights, and as a group, form the
core group of the gay community's legislative support in both Albany and
New York City. Under the circumstances, the gay and lesbian community would
benefit by having grassroots straight allies and vice versa. Indeed,
coalition-building between Black and Latino straight people and the gay and
lesbian community is absolutely necessary in the political struggle for
civil rights as well as in the struggle to end the AIDS epidemic.

A note from TheBody.com: The field of medicine is constantly evolving. As a result, parts of this article may be outdated. Please keep this in mind, and be sure to visit other parts of our site for more recent information!

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